Flip the Switch
by colbert-238
Summary: After the events following the dragon war in Crocus, Juvia notices a change in Gray's behavior. Confident something is bothering him, she decides to confront him about it when they return home to Magnolia.


**Fairy Tail: Flip the Switch **

Juvia couldn't believe her eyes as she stepped inside Fairy Tail's guildhall. It was clear the Mayor had gone all out in fixing up the once dilapidated building. Looking around at the familiar surroundings, she couldn't spot a single thing that seemed out of place. Just as it was seven years back, the bottom floor was lined mostly with wooden benches, with the bar, a large stage, and the request board the only other notable additions.

From what she could see, the second floor also looked perfectly replicated, even the rays of sunlight shining in from outside resembled those from her memory. She got a little choked up while taking it all in. This was exactly what the guildhall had looked like when she'd joined Fairy Tail, and seeing it back to its former glory warmed her heart. She had to take it in fast though, because it didn't take long for the crowd behind her to go berserk.

The rest of Fairy Tail's mages rushed by her in one giant mob, most while violently pushing and screaming at one another to move faster. The once quiet scene turned hectic in a matter of seconds.

"Hey! This isn't right!" Natsu's voiced screamed from amidst the crowd. "I think I remember this bench being broken last time I was here. Guess I'll just have to fix it, fire dragon's iron fi—"

The pink-haired mage was cut off by a high pitched voice, one Juvia recognized immediately as Lucy's. "Wait Natsu! Don't wreck the place right after we get it back! It doesn't have to resemble the old guildhall exactly!"

"Hey Mira, they restocked the bar! Get your cute little ass over here!" Cana bellowed, already sitting on her usual stool beside the bar.

"It sounds like you've had enough already," came Mira's soft reply.

These were just two conversations Juvia could make out among the dozens going on, each one causing the smile on her lips to spread. Before she knew what was happening, she was laughing out loud aside her friends, lost in her own happiness as she witnessed everyone acting like themselves again. After everything that happened in the past few days, she could finally say that she was enjoying herself. However, that enjoyment soon left her alongside a sudden chill.

"Oh, Gray-sama," Juvia said as the ice mage walked by her, "isn't this great? It's like all that business with the dragon's never even happened."

Given her loves recent behavior, she wasn't expecting much of a response from Gray, but the man outright ignored her. Gray continued into the guildhall without so much as a glance in her direction, an emotionless stare aimed straight ahead as he did so.

"That's strange, did something happen between you two?"

Juvia turned around to answer the question, finding herself face to face with a beautiful scarlet-haired mage. "Juvia...isn't sure," she said to Erza's confused stare. "He said some strange things during the party at the capital, but Juvia thought he was just joking around. Maybe, maybe Juvia said something to upset him."

Erza looked over her head to watch the ice mage in the distance. "Gray doesn't like to burden his friends with his feelings, you may have some trouble getting him to open up."

"That's true," Juvia agreed. She'd noticed this as well throughout their time together, though until now she'd played it off as her beloved playing hard to get. "Still, Juvia is going to try talking to him anyway. As long as Juvia isn't too forceful, there shouldn't be any problem with asking what is wrong."

With that, Juvia left the scarlet-haired mage with a thankful nod. Her feet moved almost instinctively in pursuit of Gray. The ice mage had made his way across the large room, and was ascending the stairs that led to the second floor by the time she caught up to him.

"Gray-sama?" Juvia said, pushing her way out of the crowd behind her.

Gray came to an abrupt halt halfway up the steps. "What?" the man asked, his tone rather harsh.

"Is...Is something wrong?"

"No," Gray replied so fast it almost cut her off.

"Oh. Are you certain, because lately it seems like you've—"

"I said I'm fine!" Turning on his heel to face her, Gray made no attempt to control his voice, which raised in volume the longer he spoke. "Listen Juvia, I'm sick of you constantly following me around like some damn shadow! How about you just leave me the hell alone for once!?"

After his outburst was finished, the ice mage turned once more and continued up the stairs. Juvia's utter shock made her oblivious to her surroundings. Her bones had gone stiff, refusing to go any farther than the first step ahead of her, and her hand held onto the wooden railing beside her with enough force to crack it in half. It took all the strength she had to keep from breaking down, but even then she felt a few stray tears escape her.

In this state, her surroundings may as well of been a never-ending void, as she had no way of sensing anything around her. If she could, perhaps she would've noticed that the entire guildhall had gone silent the moment Gray had started to speak. In a room filled to the brim with Fairy Tail mages, one could easily hear a pin drop anywhere in the building.

"That bastard! What the hell is his problem anyway!?" Juvia turned her head just in time to see Natsu push his way out of the crowd. With two hands coated in roaring flames, the pink-haired mage stepped to her side and glanced up the stairs. "Hey Gray! I don't know what all that was about, but you better get your ass down here and apologize to Juvia right now!"

Gray was no longer within anyone's sight, and the only response to Natsu's threat was silence. "Damn it!" Natsu spat under his breath, "don't cry Juvia, I'll go beat some sense into him."

Natsu tried to step forward, but was stopped short when Juvia's hand pushed back on his chest. Before she could say anything to the pink-haired mage, Lucy walked up behind them, placing a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Calm down Natsu," Lucy said in a light whisper, "this is between Juvia and Gray, it doesn't concern you."

"...Damn it," Natsu reluctantly extinguished his flames. "That idiot knows better than to talk to his friends like that."

"He's just upset, I'm sure he didn't mean it." At this point, Lucy's words were aimed more towards Juvia than Natsu. "You know that right? Gray would never say something that hurtful unless something was bothering him."

Juvia wiped a number of fresh tears off of her face. "I know. Thank you Natsu, Lucy. I appreciate the help, but this is something I need to take care of on my own."

Giving neither of her friends the chance to respond, Juvia forced her shaking legs to start up the steps. She was well aware of the countless eyes on her at this moment, but after climbing a few steps, the guildhall had already started to liven back up. As she reached the second floor Gray came into view along the back wall. The ice mage was sitting on the floor, his back against the S-class job board and his face buried between his pulled up legs. In the middle of the board above him, Juvia noticed a large fist sized imprint that had nearly cracked the board in two.

She had only taken one step towards Gray before he spoke, his voice muffled from his current position. "Leave me alone Juvia, I just need some time to myself for a change."

Juvia found it impossible to read any emotion in the man's voice, but she was somewhat glad that he was no longer yelling. "Juvia won't leave, not until you say what is bothering you so much."

"Please Juvia, I'm begging you."

"I'm _not_ leaving Gray-sama."

Gray stood to his feet fast enough to stop her heart from beating. "God damn it Juvia!" the ice mage screamed. "Why is it you insist on never leaving my side!? Why the hell can't I ever do anything without you stuck to me like glue!? Why can't you just sense that I'm upset and leave me alone like everyone else!?"

"Because Juvia loves you Gray-sama!"

"Yeah well stop!"

Once again, Juvia heard the entire first floor go silent, but this time she couldn't care less. "What do you mean _stop_?" She could feel her throat going dry as she tried to take a step forward. Her heart dropped when Gray took a step back in response. "How could you say something like that? Are you seriously asking Juvia to stop loving you? Like...like my love is just some switch, something that can be turned off at a moments notice."

The anger written on Gray's face slowly turned to sadness. "Yes," he said, switching his gaze to the floor.

For the first time in a long while, Juvia felt an unbridled rage boil up inside of her. Before she even knew what she was doing, she stepped forward and smacked Gray across the face as hard as she could. The sound that followed bounced around the entire guildhall, surely audible to everyone present within its walls.

"You jerk!" She screamed, putting everything she had into making her voice as loud as possible. "I don't care what's bothering you right now! The Gray-sama I know would never ask such a hurtful thing of anyone! Even if he couldn't return my love, he'd understand that asking me to abandon it completely, it'd be like asking me to break my own heart!"

"Juvia," Gray said while rubbing at a throbbing red cheek. "Please, just listen to me fo—"

"I'll accept that Gray-sama doesn't love me back, but I'll never accept not loving him with all of my heart! I won't abandon who I am just because you ask me to!"

"You have to!" Gray yelled, his anger returned now that his pain had subsided.

"Why!?" Juvia asked, matching the man's volume.

"Because I don't want you to die!"

Both mages went silent after that, neither quite sure of what to say. Juvia was the one who finally broke the silence, her curiosity getting the better of her anger. "What? She asked, her tone now far lower than before.

Gray also seemed to have calmed down a bit, although there was still a noticeable edge in his voice. "When I was young, I lost Ur because I was so obsessed with getting revenge on Deliora. And now, because I wasn't strong enough to protect you, Ultear sacrificed her life to give me another chance."

Gray took a step forward as he continued, looking up to meet Juvia's eyes. "Everyone I love ends up dying because of me. I don't want that to happen to you, that's why I'm asking you to do this, it's for your own sake Juvia, and so I don't have to go through the pain of losing you. Please, flip the switch."

Her tears returning in full force, Juvia became suddenly aware of what little space there was between them. "Gray, I...I had no idea."

"Yeah well, I didn't want to ruin everyone's good time by telling them." Gray tried to step back, but quickly realized that was impossible. At some point during his rant, he must have taken Juvia's hands in his own. "Just keep this between us for now okay."

"S-Sure," Juvia managed to squeeze out.

"So, what do you say? Will you do this for me?"

She had no idea where the will came from, but something about the situation gave Juvia enough bravery to reach up and gently cup Gray's cheek. "Oh, Gray-sama," she said, her hand caressing the same cheek she'd slapped mere seconds before. "No."

"No?" Gray asked, pushing away and effectively ruining the moment. "How could you still say no after everything I just said?"

Although flustered from the previous moment, Juvia was able to pull herself together in order to speak. "Gray-sama, Ur and Ultear did what they did because they loved you, and because they wanted you to be able to live a full life, a happy life. Acting like this, it only insures their sacrifices meant nothing."

Gray's gaze switched back to the floor, two clenched fists drew Juvia's attention. "I refuse to lose anyone else," Gray said in a dark tone, "I'll do whatever it takes to keep everyone alive, you have my promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Gray-sama." Once more Juvia walked forward, gently unfolding Gray's hands to hold hers. "Death is a natural part of life, it's not something you can change, no matter how badly you want to. The point of life is life itself. To laugh, to cry, to feel anger or loss, even to love, it's all part of being alive. It may not feel fair sometimes, losing our loved ones is a pain that seems unbearable at times, but the only thing you can do is keep on living. To not let their death change you, that's the only real way to honor the sacrifice they made."

Juvia knew her words were hurting Gray, this was proven by the tears streaming down his face, but she refused to stop. "This is why Juvia won't stop loving you. You could ask me a thousand times and my answer would remain the same. Whatever happens, I will always love Gray-sama with all of my heart. That is my promise, and I am more than capable of keeping it."

For what seemed like an eternity after that, Gray refused to lift his head. "I'm...sorry Juvia," he said after a long silence. "I lost my temper, and said some things I shouldn't have. I hope you can forgive me."

"Of course," Juvia said without missing a beat, "if you had just explained to me what was wrong, Juvia would've gladly given you some space. When you're ready, I'll be there to help you tell everyone else, but until then I'll leave you alone."

Shooting a forced smile, she released Gray's hands and turned back towards the stairs. One step away, a firm grip on her hand stopped her in her tracks. "Actually," Gray said while rubbing the back of his head, "I...wouldn't mind if you stayed, for a little while anyway."

Juvia could practically taste her own heart by this point. Trying her best not to ruin the moment, she turned on a heel and met Gray's eyes. "Of...of course Gray-sama." In a move that seemed to surprise them both equally, Gray pulled on Juvia's hand, pushing their bodies together as he wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Gray-sama," Juvia whispered.

"Yeah."

"Do you realize what just happened?"

Gray took a moment to think, "not really, what happened?"

The moment he'd finished speaking, Gray felt Juvia's arms wrap tightly around his waist. Squeezing the man enough to suffocate him, Juvia aimed two heart-shaped eyes upward. "We just had our first fight as a couple!"

"What!?" Gray asked, his face turning red as he attempted to break free from Juvia's ironclad grip. "I think you're looking at this the wrong way Juvia! And why did you use the word 'couple' to describe our relationship!?"

"Juvia finally mustered the strength to confess her love, and Gray-sama said he didn't want to lose her! Clearly that means—eh?" Having closed her eyes to stop the tears, Juvia reopened them to see herself in a loving embrace with thin air.

"I can't stand all this lovey-dovey crap," Gray said on his way towards the stairs. "If you're gonna start acting weird I'm heading back downstairs." With both hands pushed inside the pockets of his jacket, Gray began to do just that.

A moment to regain her composure, and Juvia turned to chase the fleeing man. "Gray-sama! Please wait for Juvia! She promises to behave herself! Gray-sama!" While chasing the ice mage down the stairs, she couldn't help but smile as she wiped away her tears. Gray was clearly back to his normal self, and she had been the one to help him through his pain. No matter what her beloved said to ruin it, this was a moment she'd remember for the rest of her life.


End file.
